Moving to Ivy City

I recently moved out of Chinatown.

The Pros: Chinatown was a good neighborhood to start my post-graduation life in Washington D.C., and there were many appealing things about the area:

• My apartment building was across the street from my office.
• There’s plenty of green space to walk the dogs (e.g. Judiciary Square and the Building Museum).
• Easy access to the National Mall and museums. 
• Plenty of food options, and there’s a nearby grocery store.
• The neighborhood is walking distance to plenty of other interesting parts of D.C., like CityCenter and Penn Quarter.

The Cons: Chinatown lost its charm pretty quickly. Here’s what I discovered:

• Rent’s too damn high. My 1 bedroom apartment was more than $2,700/month and the building had few amenities.
• Chinatown is full of people who are intoxicated and/or going through mental health crises in the streets. Harassment is routine.
• The concerts in the arena were so loud that I could hear them in my bedroom.
• There’s not a single gay bar in that entire part of town.
• There are plenty of restaurants in Chinatown, but most are way too expensive to frequent.
• Rats, rats, rats.

So, after a year in Chinatown, it was time for a change of scenery.

Moving to Ivy City

Ivy City is a tiny triangular neighborhood consisting of only a few blocks. It is isolated from the rest of the city and not serviced by the metro.

The neighborhood is bordered by Gallaudet University, a massive rail yard, and a large cemetery that abuts the National Arboretum. Ivy City’s diminutive size and the fact that it was traditionally an impoverished residential area means that many longtime D.C. residents haven’t heard of it.

Washington’s Distillery District

The northern half of Ivy City is dominated by warehouses and municipal lots.

Due to the District’s unique zoning rules, this is one of the few parts of the city that has industrial zoning left, so the formerly-abandoned warehouses have been converted into several distilleries, breweries, and a winery/concert venue.

My New Home

The largest of Ivy City’s repurposed warehouses is my new apartment building: The Hecht Warehouse.

Hecht is a massive mixed-use development that kind of feels like living in a mall due to the amount of retail space. There are restaurants, a Mom’s Organic Grocery store, a Nike store, TJ Maxx, Petco, and a Planet Fitness, among other things. There’s also a Target store and Compass Coffee under construction.

And the amenities/common areas are insane. 

The Price is Right

One of my favorite parts of the Hecht Warehouse building is the price — it’s more than $800/month cheaper than my Chinatown apartment. Sure, it’s a little further out than living right across the street from the office, but I’ll take a bit of a commute to save $10,000 a year.

Plus the lack of metro service is eased by a building shuttle to the Noma metro. There are also plenty of alternative transportation options — city bikes, scooters, a Zipcar-like service called Free2Move, and, of course, walking. (I frequently walk to Chinatown, particularly when I get up early).

Another perk of Ivy City is that I have yet to see a single rat (even after 2 months!) So this is markedly better than the infested alleyways of Chinatown and most other neighborhoods in D.C. 🐀